The South Metro Fire Department said their final goodbyes to fellow firefighter Cody Mooney.
A Colorado fire department supported one of their own for the last time as they paid an emotional tribute to firefighter 31-year-old Cody Mooney after he died of a brain tumor.
The men and women of the South Metro Fire Rescue lined the halls of Littleton Adventist Hospital Sunday as medical professionals transported Mooney’s body to have his organs donated.
Walking along Mooney’s stretcher was his wife, Emily Mooney, who is 9 months pregnant with their fifth baby.
“We had such an amazing showing of people who wanted to show their support and love,” firefighter Justin Perlman said. “We were able to line the whole ICU. Cody made such an impact on people just from his love and support that you didn’t even really need to coordinate anything, People just started showing up to do it.”
Perlman told InsideEdition.com that they’ve been working together for the last seven years.
About a year-and-a-half ago, Perlman said Mooney started talking about pain in his neck and head.
“He went to the chiropractor and it wasn’t really doing anything, and they recommended he go in for a scan and that’s when they found the tumor in his head,” Perlman said.
The diagnosis wasn’t terminal, but as the tumor grew, doctors suggested he have surgery to remove it.
Initially, the surgery was a success. Doctors were able to remove the entire tumor and sent him home shortly after to recover.
“Four days later, at 2 a.m., he woke up with a severe headache, like an unbearable headache,” Perlman said. “He started bleeding out of his incision site and Emily started screaming for help.”
Doctors believe Mooney had a pseudoaneurysm and undetected complications led to Mooney having strokes, Perlman said.
Mooney died of his complications last weekend.
“I was in the room with the family saying our final goodbyes,” Perlman recalled. “It was just such love and support from our family, being the fire family.”
He explained Mooney has always intended to be an organ donor.
“He wants to help people. That’s why he became a firefighter – to give back to his community and help people in need and he’s continuing to do that after his life,” Perlman said. “He’s still going to be saving people and it just goes to show what kind of guy he really was.”
To support Mooney's growing family in their time of need, visit their GoFundMe page.
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